The Eagle and the Arrow

Eagle was a strange creature. He got his fun out of teasing and frightening the little birds. Even when he was not hungry, he would soar through the sky and swoop down on some unsuspecting birds and pretend to prey on them. The poor little birds would cower with fear and try to fly away.

Eagle would then burst into an ear-piercing laugh and flap his wings disdainfully. “I am the King of the sky! How scared you all are of me,” he would exclaim.

The birds did not like Eagle and they all thought he was very mean, for the other eagles swooped down on the smaller birds only when they were hungry.

Once it so happened that a flock of pigeons was flying in the sky and Eagle decided to scare them. He came swooping down on them from out of the blue. The pigeons shrieked and scattered in different directions.

Just then Eagle’s sharp ears caught a whizzing sound. He turned around and saw its source: an arrow! Sure that the arrow was not meant for him but for the pigeons, Eagle just turned away. But the pigeons had flown out of the way!

“Swick!” The arrow struck Eagle right in the heart and he started fluttering to the ground. “Oh no, I don’t want to die,” said Eagle, “I have so many years more to live…” But he was losing his blood very fast. He fell to the ground with a thud and with dying eyes looked at the killer arrow.

It was decorated with one of his own feathers! “Oh God, no!” said Eagle, as he died.

281 words | 2 minutes
Readability: Grade 3 (8-9 year old children)
Based on Flesch–Kincaid readability scores

Filed under: folktales
Tags: #birds, #eagle, #pigeons

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